University Park draws families to 'old style neighborhood'

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Staff photo by HEATHER NOEL/neighborsgo

From left to right Riley Fainter, Katherine Ann Cochran, Claire Cochran and Ava Stubbs celebrate the discovery of another lizard in their University Park neighborhood. The girls are part of a group of children ages 3-10 who play often together in the neighborhood ranked No. 1 on the list of best neighborhoods for families with kids.

Last year, Kate and Spencer Cochran moved into a white-painted brick house three blocks away from their childhood homes on Greenbriar Drive in University Park.

The move is a homecoming of sorts. The Cochrans’ new house on Hanover Court is where Kate attended Bluebird meetings during her elementary school years.

Now, almost three decades later, the couple’s three daughters are scouring the neighborhood for lizards to add to their collection.

“We’ve lived in Lakewood and Preston Hollow, but I think there’s a sense of community here that we didn’t experience in those other neighborhoods,” said Kate Cochran, 41, who met her husband in first grade at Hyer Elementary. “It’s a sweet place to be.”

The area, also rated the top neighborhood for empty nesters, was found to be the best for families with children in the central Dallas area, according to an analysis by The Dallas Morning News.

In The News’ analysis, safety was the most heavily weighted factor, followed by schools and affordability. The area is bound to the north by Northwest Highway, to the south by Lovers Lane, to the east by Hillcrest Avenue and to the west by the Dallas North Tollway. Several other areas in University Park also ranked high on the list above neighboring Highland Park. “The streets and the neighborhoods are similar, but we have a majority of the parks where recreation activities occur and a majority of the schools are in our jurisdiction,” said Steve Mace, community information officer for University Park, comparing Highland Park to University Park.

Besides the University Park Police and Fire Department and zoning to Highland Park ISD schools, Mace said the city’s 10 parks are also a draw for families.

In the next five years, Mace said, the city is pushing to renovate every park. It’s a move that comes in response to the city’s population skewing younger in recent years as families like the Cochrans buy older homes to renovate.

Almost two years ago, the Holmes Aquatic Center in Curtis Park was renovated to reveal a giant water slide, an updated 50-meter swimming pool and a 15,000-square-foot sprayground for children.

Cochran said she and her children, who currently attend the Providence Christian School of Texas, frequently walk to Caruth Park and Coffee Park and the playground of Hyer Elementary.

She and her husband might transfer their daughters to their own alma mater, Highland Park High School, when they’re older.

It was the schools that brought Shawn Foster, a Richardson High School alumnus, and his three children to the Park Cities from McKinney nine years ago.

For the last two years, Foster, 49, has rented a three-bedroom, second-floor condominium on Asbury Avenue.

Before that, it was a duplex near Highland Park High School and a house on Mockingbird Lane in Highland Park.

From his condo, his eighth-grade son can walk to Highland Park Middle School. It’s also a quick walk to the strip of restaurants down Hillcrest Avenue such as Goff’s Hamburgers and Banditos in Snider Plaza.

“You see people walking their dogs and kids on bikes,” Foster said. “It’s a traditional, old-style neighborhood.”

Kate Cochran agreed, saying the neighborhood is a throwback to another era. She said high school classmates have also returned to their roots, purchasing homes only a couple blocks away from her.

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